


When Dying

by happinesssdeceit (crescenttwins)



Category: RustBlaster
Genre: Gen, Imported, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Minor Original Character(s), Origin Story, Pre-Canon, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-01
Updated: 2009-06-01
Packaged: 2018-12-14 07:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11778240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescenttwins/pseuds/happinesssdeceit
Summary: They have been trapped here, stuck and left for dying.





	When Dying

The air is heavy here, and it is getting harder to breathe. How long has it been?

They have been trapped here, stuck and left for dying. And the thirst, it is becoming greater and greater—they need to…they need to feed before they starve. But there are no humans here, no people created to be their game. They have no food here. Children are starving in the human world, but  _everyone_  is starving here.

Black spots dance around their vision as they try to destroy the gate that holds them here.

But they can't, because the betrayers on the other side have locked them here to die. And those here are so  _hungry_ , and their throats are burning for some  _blood._ They need to feed. Their stomachs feel like empty holes, worse than any wound.

They are all dying.

* * *

 

Six can't remember being this weak before. It seems like a chore to move. He just wants to waste away and  _die._  He is only thirteen, still young and stupid and now he's never going to grow up to be an adult, huh?

A drop of blood touches his mouth and Six hates himself for devouring it.

It is his mother's, from a self-inflicted wound that seeps blood even now.

"Drink it, Six." She murmurs, still starved and gaunt ( _but she's still feeding him)_. "You'll need your strength if you want to survive." His mother is so pale, so  _tired_ , but she forces her wrist to his mouth and he eats for the first time in weeks.

He swallows the tangy blood, tearing the skin open further with pointed teeth as he yearns for more in his stomach. He drinks and drinks, his throat becoming swollen with the thick juices. Six thrusts his tongue into the wound, tasting blood beneath the skin and it  _taunts_  him, so he rips the skin ( _thin, flimsy barrier)_ away with sharp bites. A flood enters his mouth, and he purrs in ecstasy as his mother's—

Six tears himself away from the arm, burrowing into the corner when he realizes what he has done. There is blood everywhere, all over the ground, and his mother is still.

The world tilts as Six chokes on the scent that fills the room so easily, but even as his stomach rolls in disgust his tongue is lapping up the blood on his lips. He crawls to his mother, wanting—needing to beg forgiveness, because this was a terrible thing to have done, though it makes him feel so strong.

He knows she is dead long before he gets there.

His is not the only home that smells of blood, Six is (relieved _shocked_ scared) to find.

* * *

 

A vampire child is something strong. But until they reach adulthood, children are numbered. They are easier to keep track of that way (easier to forget if they are abandoned).

Six is the sixth child in his generation, but he knows that there will be no one to bestow him with a name (not anymore). He doesn't have a lineage weapon, either, but he has his beautiful bird, his pet, and that will be enough.

Six wanders, those first few days when his mother's blood is still hot and heavy in the room ( _in his stomach_ ). He wanders around the Hollow of Despair and watches. He listens and drinks blood from vampires who are giving up on life and grows stronger.

He learns that One and Three have died, but Two has killed her family and Nine is missing. Six hears no news of Four or Five or Seven. Eight never existed; Eight was stillborn.

His bird is growing larger, and Six doesn't know what he eats but he is not starving like everyone else. Six is glad, because he is not ready to lose another friend.

Six has been alone for a long time before he runs across Seven.

The vampire who is closest to his age is covered in blood, and he does not cry. It only takes Six three minutes to find out that he has killed his parents, but also his neighbors. The smell of blood will attract other vampires, Six knows, so he changes Seven into clean clothes and then they run.

Seven is glassy-eyed and numb, but Six has gone through it before and knows that he will get over it.

He hates himself for thinking it, but he is glad he is not alone anymore ( _that someone has suffered like he has)_. Seven and his bird, they get along okay, so Six decides it could be a lot worse and finds them a safe alley to sleep in.

Before he sleeps, though, Six decides he will never hurt a child of his generation. He thinks that he would rather die first.

* * *

 

Seven does get over it, but it takes a long time.

* * *

 Two finds them. She hasn't drank blood since her family's slaughter, and she is half-crazed with hunger. Her lineage weapon, a dagger that eats away flesh, digs into Seven's stomach before they notice she is there, and the blood runs heavily into the dirty streets.

Like the monster she is, Two drinks the blood from the street, from the wound, anything to fill her stomach. Seven is fighting, and Six can not decide if he should give assistance. They are both from his generation, both of his age, and  _it would not be right_  to make unequal a fair fight.

Then Seven screams and Six learns that his mind had been made up from the start.

His bird attacks Two, clawing at her eyes, and Six cradles Seven. But Seven has lost so much blood, and the scent is overwhelming. And suddenly, it is like Six is back in his home, surrounded by his mother's blood; he is helpless, and he can not do  _anything anymore_.

He has almost given up hope when the thought hits him, and he tears away the cloth at his neck and offers it to Seven.

" _Drink,"_  he says, and Seven does.

When Six wakes up, Seven is embracing him and crying and Two is gone. They are surrounding by black feathers that do not quite match his pretty bird, but that is something he will think on later.

"You're alive," Seven says in wonder. He strokes Six's throat carefully. "I'm sorry about this part. It looks painful."

It  _is_  painful, but the pain isn't important, not as important that they are here and safe. Besides, the pain is dull compared to his right eye, and when he finally opens it, the world is not as clear as it should be.

"Your eye got slashed by her lineage weapon, I think." Seven answers his bewilderment. "At least, the color has changed. It's gold now, instead of purple. Your eyes are prettier now." Seven decides this as if it is fact, and then gets over it. "But Six, you turned into  _wings_."

That makes no sense at all, so Six winces and asks instead, "What happened to Two?"

Seven frowns and never answers.

"You really turned into  _wings_ , Six." Seven insists.

Six smiles tiredly at him. "Yes, Seven."

* * *

 

Four's corpse is found.

There is a vampire, out there, that is hunting the vampire fledglings and it makes the hairs on Six's neck stand on end. He hates that this hunter has appeared just as he has lost some of the perception in his right eye.

Seven doesn't seem concerned. "It doesn't matter if the vampire comes after us, Six. I have a lineage weapon now."

Six sits up. "When did that happen?"

Seven rolls his eyes and scowls. "I've told you already, Six. You turn into  _wings_." After a moment, he amended, " _My_ wings. You are my lineage weapon." He shifts his weight, lounging more comfortably on the crate.

Six doesn't believe him still. Because sure, there have been rumors of making a vampire into a lineage weapon (playing with the priests' methods)—but that doesn't mean that he is one. It doesn't mean anything.

It doesn't even mean that his mother had ulterior motives for feeding him, and that Six resents her for that.

It doesn't mean  _anything_.

* * *

 

They drain the blood out of a pair of half-dead vampires that are too guilt-ridden to feed any more, and Seven makes a face.

"It doesn't taste very good," he mentions later. "Not compared to yours, anyway. I'd rather suck  _your_  blood, Six."

Six is stuck half-way between appalled and affectionate, but he has a feeling the latter shows more on his face when Seven laughs.

"I wouldn't drain you for one good meal, Six. I'd get bored."

Six smiles then, because that is very close to an apology from Seven, and he coos to his bird before they leave the bloody house.

* * *

 

They find Five a week later, drained of blood and slain in the same manner Four was.

Seven is quiet when Six throws up, but rubs his back and pets his hair when he stops convulsing. He opens his mouth to say something twice, but never does and Six is too lost in memories to notice.

Five was supposed to be Six's wife.

And Six knows he has to get over this, and quickly, because there is no doubt that whoever it is will come after him and Seven next; but Five was a friend, and it kills him inside that she was slaughtered so violently. He doesn't want to face that, not right now.

He throws up again, and Seven says, "Your bird is starting to get worried, Six. Are you okay to move?"

Six stares once more at Five. He inhales sharply, and nods.

Seven sighs in relief, but he watches.

* * *

 

Seven steps out to drink some blood, because Six has been too grief-stricken to do so lately and it will do no good for  _both_ of them to be weak.

When he arrives back, Six is pressed against the wall and bleeding.

Nine turns around and grins, "Hello, Seven. I'm just about ready to start eating Six. Would you like to watch?"

The next moments are blurry— _will always be blurry_ —because a sick feeling curls in Seven's chest and his vision seems to do the same. But what is clear, sharpest in his memory at this point is the  _fury_  that burst from his throat.

What's clearest in the moments after this is the intoxicating smell of blood and broken flesh.

Seven  _devours_  Nine, he eats him piece by piece for daring to break what he and Six have. He swallows and eats and then he beckons to Six, who watches him. Six comes, carefully, and Seven feeds him Nine's blood until he is strong again.

Then Seven drinks from Six, only a mouthful; this time they are both completely aware of Six's transformation into feathered wings.

And they fly. They fly until Six is exhausted and Seven's bloodlust has become shallow, and the world seems a little less cruel.

When Six is asleep, Seven traces the curve of his neck and remembers how good it felt to drain Nine of blood.

What felt better, though, was the wind in his hair and the steady presence of Six on his back.

* * *

 

"Six," Seven giggles, it seems like years afterwards. "Why is Six afraid of Seven?"

Six shrugs, because the grin on Seven's face means that he wants to tell.

Seven's grin turns feral. "Because Seven ate Nine."

Six laughs abruptly, and Seven joins in after a beat. The sound echoes around the room of corpses, and it sounds just a little bit like healing.


End file.
